The year before we left Boston, I saw some woodcarving by a woman and I thought well, if she could do it, so could I, and from then on, I became very interested in carving.
In the middle fifties I started working in metal, and from then on, I’ve done nothing but metal sculpture.
I usually do what I call three-dimensional drawing. I use fuse wire and soft solder and make innumerable sketches in a very free, quick manner, which, when I have an idea that I wish to develop, I probably don’t see it very clearly in my mind, I always say ‘I have a feeling’ and I try and make that feeling visual. It may take up to 100 different sketches, which I throw away for the most part; they are really three-dimensional drawings.
When I have to enlarge a job – I’ve been, for the most part, the last few years, working on fairly large-scale works to fit into buildings – I first have to, of course, make scale models. When one is working within limits, you have to be pretty precise. And I make small models and then enlarge them with the help of Frank Lum. Personally, I don’t think I’d be capable of carrying on all this large work on my own, certainly not within the time limits set, if it wasn’t for my husband and for Frank Lum who do a great deal to help me, not only the actual work itself, but the lifting and heaving about of things that are quite beyond my strength, bending. My husband, of course, is always invaluable, not only his criticism and his encouragement, but he also does so many wonderful things like making my studio outside with bamboo and canvas, and moving things about in a way that I couldn’t possibly do.
